Two weeks ago, the Senate Judiciary II Committee held hearings on SB 28. This bill is strongly supported by both gun rights groups such as Grass Roots North Carolina and the NC Sheriffs Association. On the other side is the NC Press Association which wants to keep this data as a public record and accessible through freedom of information requests.

The Senate Judiciary II Committee had a lively deba
te this week but didn
't vote on a bill that
would exempt pistol purchase permits, concealed
carry permits, and pistol sales records from
disclosure under the public records law. Under Senate Bill 28, the information would be available
only upon request of law enforcement
agencies or by court order, while exempting it from the Public
Records Act. The legislation wouldn't apply to
long guns and other rifles because those weapons
don't require purchase permits.

The bill sponsor, Senator Stan Bingham, said th
e measure was aimed at reducing gun thefts.
He argued that criminals may target homes wher
e they know there are guns for the taking. Gregg
Stahl, Director of Government Relations for the
N.C. Sheriffs' Association, told the legislative
committee that sheriffs across the state have also
heard from residents w
ho don't own guns who fear
they would be targeted for thefts
as well. "The list of gun owners
also tells us where there are no
guns," Stahl said.

Opponents argued that they had seen no data to suggest that criminals are using public
information about gun ownership to help commit crimes. John Bussian, a lobbyist for the N.C. Press
Association, told the committee that he was opposing "yet another government records secrecy bill."
Some of the best media reporting across the count
ry on the flow of arms, he said, has been done
using the types of records that the bill would exempt from the Public Records Act.

But others, including lobbyists for the N.C. Ri
fle and Pistol Association and the N.C.
Firearms Dealers Group, supported the bill. Michael
Mann of the Rifle and Pi
stol Association said he believed there was "no legitimate reason" for anyone to have access to detailed information about
gun owners. Professional burglars, he said, look for items they can steal and dispose of quickly,
such as cash, jewelry and guns.

As to the pistol purchase permits themselves, I'd like to see them eliminated. They are a relic of Jim Crow laws in North Carolina. The permit was instituted in 1919 and was a way to allow racist sheriffs to keep handguns out of the hands of blacks.

Laws are made to be broken , this phase sounds good only when we are joking. Breaking the rules and regulations can be dangerous as well as hazardous for us. Guns are supposed to be for safety and not for killing other for our self satisfaction, our anger, our greed etc. Keeping guns must be associated with strict laws and harder training and some moral duties. One must come and visit the gun training center like I did by visiting the Boston Firearm Training Center and know about the guns in detail.Regards:Mass License To Carry Class